


Unexpected Surprises

by NoScrubs12345



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-27
Updated: 2014-08-27
Packaged: 2018-02-15 01:13:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2210073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoScrubs12345/pseuds/NoScrubs12345
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life with Sherlock means coming home to things like a drugs bust and a severed head in the refrigerator, but nothing could have prepared John for <em>this</em>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unexpected Surprises

**Author's Note:**

> Written pre-series two for the 2010 [awdt](http://awdt.livejournal.com/) Christmas quickie "shortbread."

John is accustomed to life with Sherlock. A life which includes returning home to strange things. Like a severed head where the milk should be, Sherlock using the wall for target practice and even the occasional small, containable fire. And he wouldn’t change it for the world. 

Nothing, however, could have prepared him for the sight that greeted him when he walked through the door. 

“Sherlock!” he shouted, the bags of shopping falling from his hands, causing his flatmate and the small puppy in his lap to start.

Sherlock glared at him from the sofa as the puppy regarded John with her ears perked and head tilted to the side, mouth fallen open in a wide, doggy grin. “Hello to you to, John,” Sherlock said, readjusting the ball of black and white fur in his arms.

“It’s a puppy,” John said, pointing to dog and frowning at Sherlock. “You’ve a puppy.”

“Brilliant deduction,” he said in a tone usually reserved for when John—or Anderson or some poor bastard unlucky enough to be in the vicinity—was being particularly thick. “I’ve named her Margaret. You may call her ‘Maggie’ for short if you like, though she prefers her full name.”

John was across the room in a flash, taking the squirming puppy from Sherlock and settling her against his chest. He tried not to smile as she licked at his chin and lips and held her tightly as she wriggled. “Whatever it is you have planned, forget it. I’m not letting you experiment—“

“Honestly, John,” Sherlock scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I would never do that. That’s quite disgusting.”

“But a human head’s fair game?” 

“You’re not going to let that one go, are you?” Sherlock asked with a twitch of a grin and reached for the puppy, sighing when John angled her away from him. “I always wanted a dog. Mummy never let us have one because Mycroft is allergic.”

“So this is just to piss your brother off?” John asked, frowning as Sherlock reached for the packet of Walkers Shortbread on the coffee table.

“Not entirely,” Sherlock said and freed a biscuit from the plastic film.

Margaret whined and started to squirm even harder, pushing away from John’s chest with one paw. “All right, all right. Down you go,” he said, lowering her to the couch with a frown which quickly turned to a smile as she settled in Sherlock’s lap and licked his hand before taking dainty, ladylike bites of shortbread. 

“Lestrade stopped by this morning after you’d left. He thought he had a case I might have been interested in, but it was a simple open and shut murder-suicide. Very dull and not worth my time,” Sherlock explained as John straightened up the bags. “But he had Margaret and her litter mates with him. They were found at the scene of crime, and he wanted to know if I knew anyone who would want them before he took them to the shelter. Then Margaret hopped out of her box to bark at the skull, and, well, I do believe the correct term is ‘love at first sight.’” 

“She is adorable. I have to give her that,” John said, smiling as the puppy threw her head back, begging to be petted. He reached out and scratched behind an ear, chuckling when she raised a paw to hold his hand in place.

“She likes you,” Sherlock said softly, slouching and propping his feet on the coffee table. He rested his head against John’s shoulder when he sat beside him. 

John pressed a kiss to Sherlock’s head before resting his own against it, and placed a hand on Maggie’s back as she crawled over to his lap and curled into a ball, resting her head on his stomach and staring up at him with molten brown eyes. “You have asked Mrs Hudson about keeping her, yeah? ”

“She said we could as long as she doesn’t make too much noise or destroy the flat,” Sherlock said, careful not to disturb Maggie as he ignored John's sniggering and settled against his side. He sighed as he traced the faint white stripe running down her muzzle. “Does this mean she can stay?”

“Am I going to be the one who cleans up any and all little accidents?” John asked, staring down at the puppy. He smiled when she shook her head with a start and nipped at Sherlock’s finger as he tickled the edge of an ear. 

“She’s a puppy. She can’t help it quite yet,” Sherlock said, turning a frown to John. "We've already begun working on 'potty outside.' So far she's a quick study and really quite fastidious about where she relieves herself."

John pressed a quick kissed to Sherlock’s pout. “A puppy’s quite a big responsibility, Sherlock.”

Sherlock settled further into John’s side with a huff, but John could feel his smile against his shoulder. “So is that a yes?”

John glanced down at Maggie and rubbed her head. He smiled as she looked up at him with half-lidded eyes, heaving a sigh of pure contentment and pressing into his touch. 

“Yes,” he said and smiled into the kiss when Sherlock crushed their lips together.


End file.
